


Who He Chose

by Braggsticks



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-15 08:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1299028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braggsticks/pseuds/Braggsticks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael is forced by Geoff, Ryan, and Jack to kill one of the two people he loves the most after a mistake they made. Michael has to suffer or their families will instead and these Gents aren't about to let that happen, but...who will Michael choose to live his life with?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who He Chose

                      Michael sat motionless as his eyes switched back and forth between the two monitors in front of him, heart beating calmly with each intake of air. The screen to the right was open wide on an angle of his apartment, as if the camera was placed precisely at the right spot for him to see most of the main room. It all looked the same of course and it was exactly as he had left it this morning, but instead of empty it had Lindsay standing in the kitchen with a smile wide on her face. She was cooking—or at least attempting to—and making a mess of it, but she looked overjoyed to be doing it…which only meant that there was to be good news when he got home.

            His thoughts wandered in that next minute to Lindsay specifically, not what she was doing, but her in general. He let his mind soak in every moment spent with her, every smile shared, and every tear shed. He brought into consideration his love for her which only brought on the proposal by which bound them together—not entirely that was still a few months away, but still. He loved Lindsay more than anything, cared for her like he never had for anyone else, and he was willing to do anything to make her smile. At least that’s what he thought. She was perfect for him…everything that he needed with green eyes that—‘ _No._ _Lindsay’s eyes are blue.’_

            Michael’s attention flicked to the screen on the left at that correction and he frowned slightly at the sight of Gavin’s face looking directly at the camera. The Brit was saying something with a smile that was slowly sliding onto his face and his green eyes were bright despite the glasses on his face. His head turned and he said something again, but it was short lived as a shirt connected with his face. It fell just as quickly as it hit, but his talking had stopped and instead he was laughing now. Ray stepped into view then—well his torso actually—and was holding out a controller to Gavin who took it after picking up the shirt. It took Michael a second, but he realized that it was the office from Gavin’s Kinect camera and that the idiot was setting up to play something. Michael smiled a bit as he watched the lad drop down into his chair, still smiling at Ray with a sentence that had the other bending back with a laugh before walking off. Gavin turned back to face the camera then and Michael stared back without his knowledge.

            Gavin Free. His all-around best friend. Gaming buddy. Other half. And as of recently someone who is making him doubt everything he thought was right. It had been an accident, a drunken mistake, but yet it happened and neither were able to deny it. They hadn’t told anyone though. God no. That was decided the following morning just before Michael stumbled out of Gavin’s little shed; neither would tell a soul and it wouldn’t happen again. Why had it happened though? Why had their drunken asses ended tangled up in each other’s arms? Fuck, even sober Michael couldn’t remember. Had he fought with Lindsay prior to that? ‘ _No. No. She went out with Meg and a few of the other girls_.’ It was pointless to deny that he didn’t have the slightest idea to why they were both jelly the next day. Fucking sexual tension that’s why. Who knew that all the nob jokes and “I’m going to fuck you” threats would literally cause a rift of deep need between the two? He was more than certain that he had been the one to initiate it at the bar that night with drunk hands wandering over Gavin’s equally as drunk form.

            “Well?”

            Michael shook his head out at the question to draw his thoughts back in, “I don’t know.”

            “You need to pick.”

            “Fuck you, Ryan,” Michael snapped the words as his upper body turned in the chair to look at the man, “Do you have any idea what kind of choice I—”

            “Quiet!” Geoff’s head snapped up from where he leaned against the wall, arms coming undone from where they were folded across his chest. He straightened up and slid a hand down his mouth before speaking again, “Ryan’s right Michael, you need to pick now or…or…well you fucking know what.”

            “Why me? Why do I have to fuck up my whole life for all of you?!” Michael snapped and his eyes fell on the two standing there then over at Jack who was seated in a chair just a ways off, “Fuck all of YOU! Why can’t I just pick me?!”             “Because you fucking can’t!” Geoff yelled back at him, voice pitching, “That’s not one of the fucking options!”

            “Michael,” Jack spoke up quick with a nervous look in his eyes, “please, think about the big picture here.”

            “Big picture?!” Michael’s brows knit together, “You’re fucking asking me to kill one of the two people I care about most! What the fuck makes any of this right?!”

            “Because I don’t want my kids to die!” Ryan boomed out and took a step towards Michael as he said it, “If you don’t make this goddamn choice then I lose my whole family! So stop fucking wasting time and pick one before I pick! I’m not losing my children because you couldn’t pick who you loved more!”

            Michael stared wide eyed at the gent and Jack rose from his chair to grab Ryan’s arm and push him slightly back so that he could stand between them, “Ryan, let me handle this please.”

            “We’re running out of time, Jack!” Ryan’s eyes were full of a hysterical nature and his lips were twitching, “ _Caiti_ is running out of time.”

            Jack winced a bit, but nodded, “I know…I know.” He let Ryan’s arm go and sighed softly, “Just…let me handle it.” Ryan huffed after that, but then looked away which Jack took as confirmation of being quiet. The ginger shot a look to Geoff who gave a small shake of his head with a frown; Jack sighed and turned to Michael, “Please understand that we never wanted this to happen. It was never supposed to get out of hand like this. He said that—”

            “Jack,” Geoff piped in and the man cut off at that which only had Michael frowning more.

            “Who said what?” Michael looked between the three, “What did you guys do?”

            “It doesn’t matter,” Jack inhaled a breath and glanced at the monitors, “Just…we’re running out of time, Michael.”

            “No. Fuck your time,” Michael hissed, “I deserve a goddamn explanation.”             “You will get it after!” Ryan barked and Geoff hopped forward to place a hand on his shoulder, but the bigger man was still surging with an anger that Michael could feel from there.

            Michael’s eyes slowly went back to the other Gent, “Jack, please…I deserve to know a reason to why I have to…I have to…”

            “Kill Lindsay or Gavin?” Jack asked and he nodded. There was a pause after, but then he spoke, “We…we meddled in something we shouldn’t have.”

            “Going to have to give me a little more than that…” Michael’s eyes flicked back to the two monitors; Lindsay was on the phone probably trying to calling him and Gavin was yelling something while leaning back in his chair before smiling largely.

            “Money was involved,” Jack had the brown eyes back on him, “And…a few people that weren’t needed anymore.”

            “Needed anymore?” Michael looked over at Geoff, but the older man was looking away, “What the hell do you mean?”

            “We got involved with the wrong kind of people and now we need a way out,” Ryan said quickly and Michael could see the impatience on his face, “But you don’t just get out of something like this with a pat on the back.”

            “How the hell did you even get—”

            **BING!**

            It startled the group and Geoff pressed forward quickly to shove Michael out of the way, the wheelie chair rolling him away as a third monitor flicked on to show the image of Geoff’s living room, “No. Please no.” He whirled to face Michael and his face was pale as a ghost, “Michael you need to pick _now_.”

            The lad looked to him then the screen as Griffon walked into view and just as she did another monitor flicked on to show Caiti in the Pattillo kitchen with a smile on her face and talking on the phone. Michael started shaking his head and he rose out of the chair just as the last monitor sparked on to bring on an image of Ryan’s wife with a baby in arms and a child running around her legs. His head shook faster and words bubbled out, “This is some sort of joke, right? This isn’t happening right now. You guys are pulling my leg…right?” His voice was shaking as he spoke, “I’m being p-punked, r-right?”

            The three men were staring at the screen, but then Ryan turned his head away and squeezed his eyes shut as Jack spoke up for all of them, “Michael, please…we’re out of time.”

            Michael froze up and his heart stopped. This was real. This was happening. He didn’t understand why or how, but it was and he had a choice to make. His world was collapsing in on itself and he wanted to close his eyes. Close his eyes and click his heels together three times because there was no way in hell he could pick. Was there?

            “Michael!” Geoff’s voice brought him back from the short spell and he looked at the two screens that held the halves of his heart.

            **BING!**

            Ryan’s head turned back to the screen then to Michael before lunging forward to grab him by the shirt, shoving him hard against the wall, “One of them or our families! You need to decide!”

            Michael stared up at him wide eyed and his voice broke through with a whirlwind of anger, “WHY ME?! WHY IS IT MY LIFE?! THIS IS YOUR MISTAKE!”

            Ryan’s eyes burned with an anger that was backed with Hell’s Fire, “AND YOUR FINAL CHOICE!”

            “You’re going to lose them both if you don’t!” Jack broke in from where he stood, “If you don’t pick you’ll lose them both and we’ll lose our families!”             “Is it _that_ Goddamn hard?!” Geoff shouted, “One is your fiancée and the other is just a friend!”

            “He’s your friend too!” Michael yelled back.

            **BING!**

            Ryan slammed him against the wall again, “But our families matter more than Gavin and you damn well know it!”

            “Well he fucking matters to me!” Michael shot them all a look, “And that’s why I can’t pick!”

            “God fucking dammit!” Geoff kicked out, foot hitting the chair and tipping it over. He ran his hands quickly through his hair then shot them both in the direction of the monitor showing the office, “Then fucking pick him! It doesn’t matter to us who you fucking choose as long as you do pick someone in the next minute!”

            Michael sucked in a breath and looked at the screens. His eyes first landed on Lindsay and a pain pulled at his heart as he watched the woman he loved take a seat on the couch and glance at the clock. She was waiting for him. Of course she was. She had news to tell him; good news. What could it be? Was it about the wedding? Was it about work? Or was it something even better than all of that? He wanted to know because he loved her, because he was going to be with her…but at the same time…

            **BING!**

            His eyes flicked to the other and he watched as Gavin sat with an arm on his desk; cheek pressed into his hand as he talked lazily. He pulled his glasses off with the other hand and Michael could hear that accent in his head as his lips formed the word ‘What’—no—‘wot’. He watched the smile slide onto his face and Michael’s heart skipped a beat as his memory stirred of that night. He might have been drunk off his dick, but he remembered enough to know that Gavin was always on his mind now. It didn’t help that Gavin was always brushing up against him, always smiling, always calling him “Micool” in a lyrical voice, and whispering things to him when no one else was around.

            It was wrong because he had Lindsay. It was wrong because Gavin had Meg. It was wrong because they should’ve never let it happen and now a choice that should’ve been easy—note that it never would be in choosing a life—was harder than anything.

            He licked his lips and took in a shaky breath before carefully pushing at Ryan who let him go so he could step towards the monitors. He swallowed nervously and kept his eyes on the screen of the one chosen, “What do I have to do?”

            **BING!**

            “Kill whoever you picked with your own hands…” Jack said quietly, “You have an hour once you walk out of this room, but you can’t change your mind. Once you pick he’ll know.”

            Michael nodded in understanding, “Alright.”

            “H-have you decided?” Geoff asked cautiously and the youngest man nodded again. The nod caused the monitors to shut off and Ryan spoke the last question.

            “Who did you pick?”

 

* * *

                        Michael stood quietly over the grave with his hands in the pocket of his suit, brown eyes staring down at the name carved into the stone there. It was quiet and he was alone…he’d asked to be so though. Told the others to wait at the car; said that he just wanted a minute to himself in order to think. Remember a face he never saw anymore because even pictures haunted him as the life left their eyes.

            It’d been eight years. Eight long goddamn years and every single day Michael has spent them wondering if he’d made the right choice. He didn’t regret his choice, but he also wasn’t happy with it. How could he be? There was no winning in the end…never was going to be…except for the other three who knew about it. Those three got to keep all that they loved without a single regret, it amazed Michael that they felt no guilt…it was why he had moved once the incident was over.

            This was his first time back in Austin since he’d made that choice and the guilt was still like a knife through his heart, but yet he was still trying to tell himself that he had done the right thing. Had made the right choice. But like it was said earlier he didn’t win in the end. He still lost and still was losing.

            “It’s not fucking fair…” The words left his lips in a soft whisper, but got lost somewhere in the blowing of the wind as it picked up around him. A shiver ran down his back, but he didn’t move from his spot as his eyes stayed transfixed on the stone.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, but it was long enough to gain the interruption of someone not too far off from him, “Michael, it’s getting late!”

Michael let out a soft sigh and straightened, “Coming!” He didn’t move yet though, still felt that he owed it to stand there just a moment longer…he didn’t even attend the funeral.

“Hey,” Michael turned his head to the side, startled slightly by how close the voice had gotten, and he stared into the blue eyes there, “You okay?”

The once lad gave a slow nod of his head and glanced back at the stone, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He inhaled a deep breath before taking a step forward kneeling down to scratch dirt out of the ‘F’ on the stone. He stood up straight and smiled gently at the woman next to him who returned it softly.

“I didn’t think you’d come visit him.”

Michael gave a small shrug with a sad smile, eyes floating back to the grave, “I loved him, Lindsay.” He looked at her again, but her smile didn’t falter.

“I know,” she stepped closer, hand going up to wipe away the wetness on his cheek. Was he crying? “I just didn’t think you’d be able to come back…his death changed you.”

Michael’s smile fell, “A choice changed me…” He pushed her hand away gently only to take hold of it and kiss the fingers softly, “I love you too, you know that right?”

“Of course I do,” Lindsay whispered and then a silence fell around them before she spoke again, “Come on. We’ve got a Narvaez wedding reception to attend.”

Michael nodded and she turned to start walking off, hand slipping from his. He watched her walk away then looked back at the grave, “I’m sorry, Gavin.” The name rolled off his tongue and it brought another chill upon him with the haunting image of green eyes begging for a life they could’ve lived together…a life that some days Michael wished for more than anything.

“Michael!”

“Yeah!” The Jersey man turned his whole form then to walk away. Eyes forward and not looking back. He’d made his choice and there was no turning back. Not ever.


End file.
